Blaine didn’t waste any time, and when his mouth met Tam’s, her joy was complete. She pulled in a breath through her nose and grabbed onto Blaine. She pushed her hands into his hair, dislodging his cowboy hat.
He didn’t complain, and while he’d kissed her before, neither of them were like this. This was a first kiss worth having and holding, and Tam never wanted to kiss anyone but him.
She pulled away, feeling slightly crazed and completely like she was falling. “I’m falling in love with you too.” He smiled, and Tam wanted to kiss him again, so she did.
12
Blaine kissed Tam in the darkness on the road leading to the homestead, the soft glow from the wedding casting their shadows up the lane. Her hair felt like silk, and she tasted like the chocolate cake Spur and Olli had served at their wedding.
He couldn’t get enough of her, and he couldn’t have timed a more perfect first kiss. He was definitely counting this as their first kiss, because they’d been dating for a couple of months now. He’d never waited this long to kiss a woman, and the wait was definitely worth it.
He’d told the truth when he’d said he was falling in love with her, and he believed her when she said it too.
“There is nothing fake about this,” he whispered, moving his lips to her neck.
“No,” she gasped. “Nothing.”
“Blaine, is that you?”
He pulled away from Tam quickly, the sound of Duke’s voice a real buzzkill. His pulse still pounded, though, and he was no longer even close to tired.
“Yeah,” he called back down the road to the shadowy figure coming toward him. “Just taking Tam home.” He stooped to pick up his cowboy hat so Duke wouldn’t wonder why it was lying on the ground.
“Cool,” he said, getting closer. “Will you be back for the sparkler send-off?”
Blaine did not want to come back to the wedding. He was ready to be out of his suit, and if he knew Spur, so was he. He and Olli were staying in Louisville that night, and they were flying to Texas for their honeymoon cruise in the morning.
“Mom will lose it if everyone’s not there.”
“Mom’s been on the verge of losing it for weeks,” Blaine said.
“You’re tellin’ me,” Duke said, arriving. “Hey, Tam.”
“Hi, Duke.” Tam’s fingers slid down Blaine’s arm and into his fingers. She pressed in close behind him, and Blaine tilted his head down toward her as his brother sighed.
“Allison broke up with me,” Duke said.
“What?” Blaine asked. “When?”
“An hour ago?” Duke sighed again. “If you’re not going back to the wedding, maybe I won’t have to.” He looked over his shoulder toward the festivities, clearly not wanting to go back.
Blaine wanted to help his brother, because he’d been dating Allison for six months. That was too long for her to break-up with him at his brother’s wedding. Why hadn’t she just waited until tomorrow?
“I’m sorry,” Blaine said. “You don’t have to go back. Come on. Come with us.” He glanced at Tam, who looked like she’d just lost something important. He knew how she felt, because he wasn’t finished kissing her yet.
Thankfully, at the homestead, Duke said, “I’m going to go find some of those peanut butter cups Cayden hides in the cupboards. Text me when you get back.”
Blaine said he would, and he helped Tam into his truck. “That’s a rotten thing to do,” he said once he sat behind the wheel. “Breaking up with him at a wedding?”
“I agree,” she said. The rest of the drive happened in near-silence, the radio on at a low volume. Blaine found he didn’t have much to say but a lot to think about, which was fairly typical for him after something huge had happened.
Telling Tam he was falling for her and then kissing her was fairly huge.Really huge, he amended inside his head.
At her house, he opened her door for her, and she slid to the ground. He didn’t give her an inch as he took her into his arms and kissed her again. She giggled against his lips, but the kiss quickly turned as passionate as the one on the road in front of the homestead.
Blaine could honestly kiss her all night, but his Southern manners kicked in, and he pulled away. “It’s Saturday tomorrow,” he murmured. “I have a little bit of work to do around the ranch, and then maybe you and I can just watch movies on your couch.”
“I have to finish that purse order,” she said, her fingers curling over his ears. “I should be back by noon, though.”